My view of downtown for part of the run from the Eastbank Esplanade.
So today was my long run day. I plotted out a run that would take me about 15.25 miles according to gmap-pedometer (which is awesome). My previous high before, just last week, was 11.40 miles, so this would be quite the step up. I realized maybe I should take a smaller step, but I wanted to challenge myself.
Not to give too much information, but I woke up this morning and really hoped I would 'get the urge' because I hadn't gone since Friday morning. It didn't look like it was in the the cards though so I resigned myself to the possibility of shitting my pants. I also like to treat my colon as if it were a five year old child and I would be teaching it a lesson by running for a really long time and if I had to poo then too bad!
Problem with that is my colon is just me and doesn't learn anything, so I wouldn't get the smug satisfaction of teaching it a lesson as I duck-waddled back to my car with a boxer brief full of shit. Anyways, this was all avoided as I scrambled to find a working radio to use on my run (the same small library of songs on my phone was NOT going to cut it) and I got a rumble in my tummy. I tried not to concentrate on it, for fear of scaring it away. After about five minutes of pretending not to notice and get my hopes up it finally was go time. Yes! The day was looking up!
Feeling much more positive now, I drove down to the Sellwood area and parked right next to the Springwater Corridor. I was going to do the ten mile Sellwood Bridge to Steel Bridge loop, an uninterrupted loop along both sides of the river smack dab in downtown Portland. This is a really coop thing for our city to have and I was excited to try it for the first time.
The problem was, I wanted to do more than ten miles. So I added a short little loop onto the Springwater Corridor to get the mileage up. I would like to run the length of the Springwater Corridor one day, but this being my first time, a 2.5 mile loop would do. I had the option of doing this loop at the end of my run if I was still feeling good, or at the beginning of the run, which wouldn't allow me the option of tacking on more miles at the end... it would be necessary to get back to my car. So of course I did it first to not give myself an option.
That part went well, nothing special really. Ran over the pedestrian bridge (right) on McLaughlin I drove under so many times, thinking it would be fun to run on. It was. There was a great mix of people out on the trail today, a ton of bikers, but lots of other walkers and runners too. Groups of runners, families, solo people like me, we were all represented.
Once back from that loop I followed the Springwater Corridor Trail along the river next to Oaks Park. Once Oaks Park was past it was a really long time of not much to look at. Along the banks of the river, but a lot of the time my view was blocked by vegetation, and if it wasn't, well I hadn't hit downtown yet so there wasn't much to look at. To the right was a train track so nothing there.
I was listening to NPR on the radio. If you had told me two years ago that I would be running fifteen miles and listening on NPR on the way I probably would have slapped you upside the head. I guess I am old and boring now. It was Prairie Home Companion, which was mildly entertaining, might not have stayed on it but it was being broadcast from Eugene so there were a lot of Oregon references. It seemed like forever before the trail finally hit an urban area again, spitting us out right next to OMSI. That was the official end of the Springwater Trail, but about a block and a half away the Eastbank Esplanade began.
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| The beginning (or end) of the Springwater Trail near OMSI. |
About two minutes after my stop I passed one of those bubbler fountains with four 'heads' and decided to take another quick stop to drink. I took about six gulps and then headed on my way. I figured I would drink again at some point in Waterfront Park and call it good.
So onward I went, nothing really notable. Eventually the Eastbank Esplanade actually has you in the river on a floating platform, that was pretty cool. I took a couple quick peeks at Portland, but for the most part I was just chugging ahead and listening to the radio. I imagined I would eventually have to climb up and cross the Steel Bridge on a sidewalk next to traffic, but it turns out the path takes you across the water and connects with Waterfront Park just ten feet above the water. Score! Also at this time the programming changed to Rick Steves. Double score!
Once I hit Waterfront Park I could definitely tell something was going on. It didn't take long to realize it was the Portland Pride Parade. I hit it just as the parade was hitting Naito Parkway. So that was fun to watch as turned and ran along the river in Waterfront Park. I wished I could stop, but I was on a mission. My next Gu was going to be at 11 miles (I made that up after stopping for my first one at seven miles - that was halfway from 7 to 15). Unfortunately this didn't hit until after Waterfront Park. The pride village plus Saturday Market made this place a zoo. I didn't have to slow down much despite the amount of people though, I just kept running through them. Not many other runners- I guess most wanted to avoid the crowds!
That helped distract me for a while and by the time I was through all that it was ten miles and I was still feeling good. I stopped at eleven miles to have my final Gu. Jet Blackberry won the 'berry' contest and it was pretty good. Right up there with Vanilla Bean. Finally my run was starting to catch up with me though, as I started again my legs were hurting some. I started to cramp up a little in my left calf. About 11.5 miles in I hobbled for a few steps and let out a choice word as I worked the cramp through me. The rest of the run it would threaten to cramp again, but never did.
After Waterfront Park the trail wasn't very scenic. I remember seeing HOW FAR away the Sellwood Bridge was. I thought about how crazy this all was. What was I doing? I chugged on. As you'll see, my mile times were pretty consistent so despite my legs being tired I was keeping up the pace. It wouldn't start to become a problem until I hit the Sellwood Bridge. I hit a half marathon in Willamette Park in under two hours at 1:56. Wohoo! Still felt pretty good at this point but these last two miles were going to be a bitch.
I finally hit the Sellwood Bridge. Every time I could peak at the river through the trees it was getting closer and closer. Really awesome to think how far you can go if you put your head down and give it some time. I couldn't even see the Sellwood Bridge when I turned around on the Steel, and four miles out it was a tiny mirage in the distance, but here I was, less than forty minutes later at its base.
Arriving at a small staircase to get up to the pedestrian walkway, I walked up the stairs. Wow, my legs were tired. I probably would have pulled something should I have attempted to run up those. My body started to fall apart at this point, mile fourteen. My legs were really screaming now and my left side began to hurt. I felt like I was running leaning sideways to make it not hurt so much. I slowed down a little bit. Really a trudge across that bridge. There is only a small sidewalk on one side and at one point I had to pause for about five seconds to let a bike pass me. Starting up again was hard but I made myself do it.
At the end of the bridge there were about forty steps back down to the Springwater Trail. I walked down these gingerly, one at a time. People along the trail were looking at me, wondering if I was alright. I was grimacing and limping badly. Almost there, it was a mental challenge now. Finally I reached the bottom and started to run again. Well, it was more of a shuffle, but dammit, I was going to do this. My radio had long since faded to static but I didn't care. My full concentration was putting one foot in front of the other.
As I passed people on the sidewalk they were looking at me funny. I was really grinding now. Almost there! I took a wrong turn but didn't realize it until a very colorful intersection seemed to scream at me "hey dumbfuck, wrong way!" I whipped out my phone and course corrected on the run no problem. Almost there. The last half mile or so I actually felt better and my pace actually picked up. A shot of adrenaline as my body knew the finish line was close. Finally my car was in sight and across a busy street. I slowed to a walk. I wasn't going to dart across the road in my poor mental state.
Wohoo! I had done it! I walked gingerly back to my car and grabbed my water bottle. That second water fountain never materialized and I was THIRSTY. After downing the 16.9 ounces in record time I dragged my screaming legs into the car and headed home.
I'll post tomorrow about that drive home and muscle aftermath because this post is getting ridiculously long. What a run! I was (am) in pain but feel very accomplished!
Final run: 15.40 miles in 2:19:03, 9:01/mile.
Mile 1: 8:30
Mile 2: 8:31
Mile 3: 8:52
Mile 4: 8:37
Mile 5: 8:40
Mile 6: 8:40
Mile 7: 8:51
Mile 8: 9:00
Mile 9: 9:01
Mile 10: 9:10
Mile 11: 8:58
Mile 12: 9:22
Mile 13: 9:08
Mile 14: 9:41
Mile 15: 10:08
Final .4: 3:57 (9:52 extrapolated)
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